Filling machine



Jan. 22', 1924. 1,481,513

K. KIEFER Y FILLING MACHINE Filed Feb. 20, 1919 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 E; r a L 1% Z\ \o "3 h N H L Q 1 E m f'zffj W ianesses Jan. 22 1924. 1,481,513

K. KIEFER FILLING MACHINE Filed Feb. 20, 1919 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Wifwesses: Zhventor Jan. 22 1924. 1,481,513

K. KIEFER FILLING MACHINE Filed Feb. 20. 1919 '4 Sheets-Shet s Fag; 5,

Wififiesses: Ina/6x1 0?" Jan. 22 1924.

K. 'KIEFER FILLING MACHINE fiwerzfar Filed Feb W i 5% eases. M (PM M l mented Jan. 22,

nn .STATE KARL KIEFER, or cmcrmmrr, OHIO.

. FILLING MACHINE.

Application filed February 20, 1919. Serial No. 278,287.

My invention relates to apparatus for filling successively relatively large numbers of containers, and more especially to ap- CTI paratus such as that of my Patent No. 1,813,301, dated August 19, 1919, for filling such containers with semi-solid substances that do not flow appreciably, under pneumatic pressure or action of gravity in the filling passages, such as stiff butters, pastes, ointments and the like.

The object of my invention is to simplify the construction of such apparatus, and to facilitate the filling of certain kinds of substances of the character just mentioned better than is possible with my prior invention just mentioned; especially such substances as contain particles of solid matter, such as seeds or pits and the like which are crushed by the gears and clog or break the mechanism in said prior invention. A further object is to provide for filling containers of a relativel wide range of sizes by means of comparatively simple mechanism. An-

other object is to facilitate the lubrication of the parts of the machine with which the filled substance must come in contact. Other objects will appear in the course of the ensuing description.

In the drawihgs: Fig. l'is a partial side elevation of a machine embodying my invention;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same; Fig. 3 is a front end elevation of the same,

- i. e., looking to the right in Fig. 1 or 2;

Fig. 4 is a partial longitudinal vertical section, enlarged, on a plane corresponding to the line 4-4 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a vertical cross-section of the discharging element and the distributing element of the filling head on a plane corresponding to the line55 of ig. 2; and

Fig. 6 is a detail side elevation of one of the plungers.

" As I prefer to construct my invention, there is a base 1 preferably mounted on rollers as shown. and which supports, at a convenient height, a table 2, near one end of which is fixed the ,upright bearing hub 3 extending above and below the table and for the upright shaft v forming the bearin 4 which is supporte therein by the sprocketwheel 5 fixed to the shaft and bearing on the top of thehub 3, and extends below the hub with the bevel gear 6 fixed thereto. A

oFFicE.

bevel pinion 7 meshes with the gear-6 and is on a horizontal shaft with the spur gear 8, which in turn meshes with the spur pinion 9 on the shaft with the driving pulley 10 which is turned by any suitable means, as by the electric motor 11 throughthe medium of the belt 12. \Vhere the electric motor 11 is used, it is preferably mounted on a standard 13 some distance above the rest of the machine where it is not exposed to moisture coming from the machine parts. The filling head comprises the distributing element 14 and dischar ing element 15; the

one being above and t e other below, and these elements havin flat faces bearing together and being suitably held tightly together by clamping collars 16 on a threaded neck 17 of the discharging head which extends upthrough the hub 18 bf the distributing head. These parts are held at any desired height on the shaft 4 by means of lock-nuts 19'and 20, Fig 3, lock nut 20 bearing against the lower end of the discharging element 15, and lock-nut 19bearing upon the upper'end of the neck 17, respectively.

The discharging head has, down through it, four orifices or spouts 21 spaced at equal intervals therearound, and its neck 17 is rotatable in the hub 18 of the distributing element 14, which latter is held stationary by a stay 22 projecting from it against a post 23 fixed upright in the table 2 just to the rear of these parts. The discharging head is made to turn with the shaft 4 by the clamping pressure of the nuts 19 and 20, and also, preferably, by a key 24 fitting in a-keyway 25 in the -shaft 4 (Fig. The distributing I element 14 has at the right side, an inlet nipple'26 leading radially inwardly and then down and around the element into a bottom of the distributing element against the close fitting upper face of the discharging element. This channel is located so that the orifices 21 successively register with it during the relative movement of these elements 14 and 15.v

As a means to force substance into the inlet 26 of'the distributing element 14, I prosegmental channel 27 opening through the v vide -a double-acting reciprocating pump which comprises the two alined cylinders 28 and 29 opening forwardly and rearwardly' alon the machine with their closed ends towarf each other, and having between these closed ends a lateral discharge outlet port 30 opening downwardly throu h the lower face of the pump structure. ommunicat- 'ing ports 31 and 32 lead from the closed ends of the cylinders 28 and 29, respectively, in toward the outlet port 30 and also open downwardly through said face of the pump structure short distances to the front and rear, respectively, of the downward opening of said port 30. This lower face of the pump; structure thus having these three ports 30, 31 and 32-opening downwardly through it, is 'made flat, and a slide-valve element 33 has a fiat upper face bearing up against said'lower face of the pump structure and is guided for movement longitudinally of said face by a bottom element 34- bolted to the pump structure astraddle of the element 33 and enclosing a space below said element 33 into which leads-theinlet or supply port 35.

The element 33 has two ports 36 and 37 extending entirely through it and of width and length corresponding to the downward openings of the ports 31 and 32; and between these ports 36 and 37 is a longer port 38 which, however, does not extend entirel through the element 33. These ports 36, 37 and 38 are so spaced along the element 33, and the longer port 38 is of such length that when one of the ports, as the port 36 in Fig. 4, isregistering with the opening of the port 31, the longer port 38 is registering with the port 32 and also with the downward opening of the outlet'port .30. In the extreme reverse position of this element 33, port 37 would register with the port 32 while the longer port 38 would open communication between the port 31 and the port 30.

The shaft that carries the bevel pinion.7 to drive the upright shaft 4 also carries, in addition to the spur-gear 8 before mentioned, a spur gear 39 meshing with an intermediate gear 40, which in turn meshes with a gear 41 on the crank shaft 42 which is journaled transversely of the machine across the top of the pump structure at its middle; This crank shaft'42 carries the crank 43 which has a wrist-pin 44 radially adjustable in the crank by means of a screw 45 and nut 46 (Fig. 1.) A slide-bar 47 is mounted in horizontal guides on the top of the pump structure and extends past the opposite open ends of the cylinders 28 and 29, and has fixed on it, near one end, the laterallyprojecting stud 48 out over the guides of the rod 47. A connecting rod 49 is pivoted to this stud 48 and to the wristpin 44. These parts are at the right-hand side of the machine, While the train of gears respectively.

means from the main part 52 the cross-head has the pedestal 54. These 'pedestals 54 .of the.

cross-heads 50 and 51 have fixed in them the outer ends of the plunger rods 55 and 56, respectively, which have their inner ends fixed in the plungers 57 and 58, which snugly lit the bores of the cylinders 28 and 29,

F astenedto the inner side of the gear 41 at the left is the cam 59 which has in its face the slot 60 opening over towardthe pump structure. This slot is continuous around the face of the cam and for part of its extent lies farther from the center than it does in another part of its extent, and the major proportion of each one of these parts being concentric to the shaft 42; the parts joining each other by rather sharp inclines.

This cam is clearly indicated by the dotted 1 lines in Fig. 4.

A bell crank comprising the short arm 61.

and the long arm 62 has the fulcrum 63 in I substantiall a semi-circle concentric with the shaft 4. This frame extends back from this front end as far as may be'desirable, and has the semi-circular rear end, on the bottom of which is supported the bearing 67, for the upright shaft 68 which has journaled on it the'rear sprocket 'wheel 69, in the same horizontal plane as the front sprocket-wheel--5 previously mentioned as being mounted on the shaft 4. The sprocket chain 70' wheels, and carriers in the form of trays 71 are mounted at intervals on this chain, which travels inside the carrier-frame 26 with the trays sliding along the upper sides of this frame. The sprocket-wheel has suitable recesses 72 to accommodate the mountings of the carriers or trays 71 on the chain as they pass around the wheels. This construction is clearly disclosed and claimed in asses around these sprocket my co-pending application hereinbefore re- I ferred to and need not be further elucidated herein. It is sufiicient for the present purveyor 73 comprises a chain'74 suitably driv-- en around a shaft 75 to travelrrearwardly from the machine, as indicated by the arrow in Fig. 2. As any suitable conveyormay be used, and the one here shown is not peculiar to my invention, it need not be further described. a 1

The carriers 71 are mounted at. such in-' tervals on the chain 70 that where they ass around the sprocket wheel 5 they wil be ninety degrees apart around'said wheel, and

' the parts are so proportionedthat each tray will come substantially under one of the orifices or spouts 2110f the discharging ele.- ment 15, and while traveling in the semicircle at the front, will remain under such orifice or spout.

- of this element 76 are-'of such length and' The carrier-frame; 6 6 and other parts just described are preferably so proportioned that with this spacing of the carriers '71 there will be an uneven nninber of them in the endless carrier system thus made up.

riers or trays 71. The withdrawing element 76 comprises two curved arms projectingin diametrically opposite directions from the top of the hub of the rear sprocket-wheel 69.. Preferably, this element 76 is mounted on this-hub by fitting down ontwo pins 7 7 in the hub, sothat it may be readily withdrawn from these pins,- but will turn with the wheel 69 when held .thereon. The arms so shaped that as an arm swings past a tray, or carrier 71 that is coming tangentially onto the wheel 69 in its backward travel at the left of the machine, the arm will push 1 a containerA (Fig. 2) to the left onto a receiving part of the conveyor 73. As sue:

cessive'ones of these containers A are pushed off, they push the'precedi-ng ones ahead onto the chain 7 4 which may convey them to any desired destination or to receive any fur-- ther operation required. W1th the uneven number of trays 71, and the displacing ele-- ment 7 6 having its arms spaced around the sprocket-wheel 69 twice the angular distance that the trays 71 are spaced, each one'of the arms will swing past a given tray 71 only once during each two circuitsof the carrier. The result is that a container on a given tray will be carried around the circuit twice before it, is displaced by the element 76.

1f the element 7 6' would have two addi tional arms placed at right angles or a total of. four arms insteadof two, every one of the trays will beFswept by an arm of. the

withdrawing element at every passage around the circuit, and a container placed "on a given tray will pass around the 'circuit' any even number of arms and any odd number of trays, or'vice versa, in any -such system, the number of times the container will pass around being as the number of trays around a circle to the number of arms on the withdrawing element.

The conveyor v7 3 has a lateral guide-bar 78, and'the carrier system has a guide bar 79 in a head 80 adjustable up and down on a post 81 in the table 2 at the right of the filling head.

The relatively movable parts which are exposed to thesubstances that are filled into the containers are preferably lubricated with water. A. reservoir 82 is mounted on the front end'of the table 2 with a distributing pipe 83 extending downward and back along the right-hand side of the pump and other mechanism below the table 2. A flexible branch pipe 84 leads to the interior of the bottom element 34s to admit water in the guide of the slide-valve element 33. Similar branch pipes .85 and 86 lead into the cross-heads 50 and 51 where they communica'te through ports 87 with pipes 88 that lead intolongitudinally and then upwardly extending ports 89 (Fig. 4) in the plungers 57 and ,58, respectlvely. Each plunger preferably has three circumferential gfooves 90, 91 and 92. The groove 90 near the inner end of the plunger affords a collecting place for some of the substance being filled, which thus acts somewhat as a at the top another short longitudinal groove 194 leads from the groove 92 out through the outer end of the plunger. Where these flexible branch pipes 84, and 86 lead from the distributing pipe 83, they preferably do not communicate directly with the interior .of said pipe-83, but have'small basins 95 at their upper ends under small downwardly extending nipples 96 controlled by stopcocks 97 Suflicient lubrication is provided by adjusting these cocks 97 so that the water drips; from the nipples 96 into the basins 95, from which it runs down through the flexible pipes ortubestothe parts to be lubri= cated.

The' upper: flat surface of the discharging element 15 preferably has in it two annulargrooves 98 and 99 concentric with the shaft 4, and lying respectively radially inside and I outside theorific esi2l. A shallow cup 100 is formed on the upper side of the distributing. element 14 with perforations 101 and 102 p and 15.

A flexible pipe or hose 103 connects tothe outlet port and leads out and up along the right-hand side of the machine into the nipple 26 of the distributing element. A

\ pipe 104 leads into the inlet port from the left-hand side of the machine. The

inlet port 35- is provided with a drain-cock The supply pipe. 104 is preferably connected with a source of supply of the, substance to be filled into the containers located a considerable distance above the machine; so that the substance enters the pump inlet under considerable pressure due to gravity. This adds to ease of operation of the machine; since the pump with its opposed plungers and slide-valve tends to be operated by this pressure. In fact, with a freely flowing liquid under sufficient pressure, this pump would operate as a hydraulic motor. t that this is not essential butonly desirable as permitting the electric motor 11 or other motive device'to be of moderate size and re quire only a inoderate amount of energy for driving the machine.

The motor 11 turns the driving pulley 10' over to the rear of the machine, as indicated by the arrow at the top of Fig. 4. This results, through the medium of the bevel gears, in driving the sprocketchain 70 and carriers or. trays'71 around from right to left at the front of the machine; these traveling forward at the right and rearwardly to the" conveyor 73 at the left, as indicated by the arrows in 2. This, at the same time, through the medium of the chain of gears,turns the cam 59 and crank 43 over forwardly, as indicated by the arrow in Fi 4. 1

The machine'ls shown in the drawings as being at a stage of its operation in which one of the orifices 21 in the discharging element 15 and the tray 71 thereunder has traveled half the length of the channel 27 in thedis- 'tributing element 14; andthe pump plungers 57 and 58 are midway of their stroke.

)This channel 27 is slightly shorter than'the distance between the adjacentedges of any and the channel before communication begins between said channel and a succeeding orifice. This makes it' impossible for any of the filled substance remaining inthe orifice to be released as itwould be by inlet of air through a succeeding orifice opened before will be understood distributing-head parts, practically no increase in pressure occurs incident to this temporary complete cutting off of the discharge. This is accomplished by relating the parts as shown, whereby the discharging plunger will have almost reached the inner .end of its stroke when this complete cutting off occurs', i. e., the'connecting-rod 49 will then be passing dead-center with the crank 43, and the travel of the plungers for some time will be practically negligible. The gearing 1s such that each one of the plumgers makes an inward stroke while someone of the orifices 21 is passing the channel 27 The velocity of the plunger throughout its stroke is, of course, variable; but since the discharge from each orifice will take place during one of the strokes, and the total amounts delivered at every stroke are uni form then each container on a respective tray 71 will receive an equal amount of substance. 1

The machine may be adjusted to deliver a greater or less uniform amount at each stroke by adjusting the wrist 44 along the crank'43' by means of the screw 45 and nut 46; and correspondingly adjusting ach one of the plungers 57 and 58 along the bar 47 by loosening the clamping plates 53 of the cross-heads 50 and 51 and movin them inward or outward along the bar 4 until the attached plungers 57 and 58 have the desired very slight clearance at the inner ends of their strokes, then tightening the plates 53. c

Any delivered amount for which the machine is thus adjusted is doubled by substituting the two-arm displacing element for the four-arm displacing element; or in creased four times by substituting the onearm element. Thus, the machine. may fill containers of awide range of capacities from a very'small fraction of the total capacity of each cylinderup to several times the capacity .of each cylinder.

The filling head comprising the elements 141aiid 15 may be adjusted up and'down on the shaft 4 as before described to bring its.

discharge orifices 21 close over the tops of containers of different heights; and trays or carriers 71 of different sizes may be readily placed on the machine for containersjof different diameters. I These adjustments are in accordance with my co-pending application tween the present invention and the one in said application being more particularly found in the different kind of forcing means and the differences in the filling head and carrier system incident thereto.

This forcing means which does not compel the substanc to pass through any very restricted passage at any part of its travel is especially adapted for avoiding the crushing of solid particles in the substance, as, for instance, seeds, pits and the like in fruit butters and similar preparations. This advantage is further realized by having the pump horizontally acting and havingits discharge ports 31 and 32 at the lower sides of the cylinders. Such solid and more dense particles gravitate to these ports and are not frequently caught between the inner ends of the plungers and the closed ends of the cylinders, when the clearance of these plungers is made very slight, as is desirable. It is not necessary, however, that this clearance should be exceedingly small, and it is entirely practicable to increase the clearance where there ar largesolid particles in the substance being filled.

The water lubrication insures easy working of the machine even with the most viscid substances. No special provision is made for carrying ofi the lubricating water, since the discharge thereof is practically negligible because so little of the water is required. It will be understood that the travel of this lubricating Water around the plunger is in both directions from the port 89' down around the middle groove 91, thence out along the groove 93 into the groove '92 and in both directions up around this groove 92,

under the slight head of water in the tube 85 or 86, and out through the terminal groove 94 at the top of the'plunger into the outer end of the cylinder. Theinlet of this water to the tubes 84, 85 and 86 by dripping from the nippleson the pipe 83 permits of a very slow feeding ofthe lubricating water, while at the same time permitting a solid column of water in each one ofthe tubes 84, 85 or 86 which will thus slowly but steadily flow out. between the parts. to be lubricated.

By confining'the pump below the carrier system, any leakage from it is kept away from the carriers and the containers thereon. There is practically no leakage from the distributing head; and the filling of the containeris accomplished in but little more than one-third of'the semi-circular travel during which the orifice is over the container, so that the remainder, or almost two-thirds of this travel, is left for whatever drippage there" may be from the orifice, which will thus be caught in the container. Practically all of the substance that is not forced out of the orifice during its communication with have access to the interior parts.

sectional area. This is made practicable by proportionmg the forcing means or pump 7 so that even at its greatest stroke it does not force the substance too rapidly through the relatively small orifices; the filling f large sized containers being accomplished by repeated passage under the filling head as hereinbefore described, rather than by making the pump larger with the necessary corresponding increase in cross-sectional area of the outlets of the orifices 21.

Some substances which are very viscid or stringy and therefore do not drop cleanly away from the orifices 21 are more practically managed by emptying each orifice 21 entirely of the material after it passes the end of the channel 27. For this purpose, the distributing element 14 may have an opening 106 (shown by dotted lines in Fig. 2). just past the end of the channel 27 to admit air to the orifice 21 coming thereunder, which may be merely under atmospheric pressure or may be of a higher pressure supplied through a pipe 107.

All of the parts exposed to the substance are readily cleaned by merely admitting hot water to the machine while it is operated. It is, therefore, not frequently necessary to But the taken apart by loosenfilling head is readily collars 16, and either ing the nut- 19 an lunger 57 or "58 is readily removed by oosening it from the bar 47, as before described. while ready removal of the slidevalve element is possible upon disconnecting it from the link that connects it to the bell-crank arm 62. Those bearings of the machine with which the filled substance does not come in contact are lubricated with oil as usual, which is supplied through the various oil cups indicated on the drawings, and

which need no particular description.

This machine is described as particularly adapted for filling semi-solid substances; but it will be understood that it is also adapted for filling readily flowing substances, and that the machine is subject to modifications adapting it to different requirements. Therefore, while certain constructional details are deemed preferable in connection with my invention, and I have shown and described these rather specifically in eluci dating the construction and use of my invention, as is required, I do not wish to be understood asbeing limited to such'precise showing anddescription, but having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patcut is:

1. In a filling machine, filling-means comprising members continuously moving relatively andprovided, respectively, with passages adapted to register, the passage in one member being elongated in the direction of the relative movement,and measuring means having a discharge passage connected with the passage of one of said members and comprising a plunger and a crank causing a complete gradual discharging stroke of said plungerwhile said passages are in'registry.

'2. In a filling machine, filling means com-- prising relatively .movingv members, one member having a succession of passages to discharge into successive containers and the other member having-a passage elongated in the direction of relative movement, with which the passag'e sof-the one member successively register while traveling along said" elongated passage, and double-acting pulsating measuring means having a discharge passage leadin to said elongated passage, alternate comp ete discharging pulsations of said measuring means occurring within the periods of registry ofsucces'sive passages of the one member with said elongated passage of the other member.

3. In a filling machine, filling means comprising members with successively registering passages, the registering'passage' in'one member being elongated and increasing the period of registry, measuring means having a. discharge passage connected with sai means being so relativelyarranged that each" alterone of said containers is carried around said circuit more than once.

5. In a filling machine, filling means, means for carrying a plurality of contain- ,ers successively around a circuit under said filling means, and means to withdraw certain of said containers in another part of saidcircuit, this means and said carrying means being so relatively arranged that each one of said containers is carried around said circuit more than once, whereby said filling means deposits an amount of substance in the container each time the container passes around said circuit, and means for varying the amount of substance thus deposited each time.

6. In a filling machine, the combination with a filling means including members continuously rotating relatively and provided with passages, respectively, arranged for registry and one of said passa being elongated inthe direction of relatlve movement, of measuring means having a discharge passage for material coming from one-of the passages first mentioned and including a plunger, and a crank of readily variable stroke actuating the plunger to' force a gradual, complete discharge variable at will. i

7. In a filling machine, the combination with a filling means including members which continuously move relatively and are provided, respectively, with passages arr ranged for registration, one of said passages being elongated in the direction of relatlve discharge passage, to supply material to bne of the passages first mentioned and including an intermittently moving plunger,

and a crank of readily adjustable stroke for actuating the plunger.

' KARL KIEFER.

' Witnesses:

M. A. HARRINGTON, .E. E. FINGH.

movement, pf measuring means, having a 

